Rolling Thunder Cyclocross Race November 3rd

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Doug finally got his Montana victory. Winning out of three man group comprised of Phil and Bill Martin, Doug powered away to claim his 4th cross victory this year. Both Phil and Bill raced well to hang in the lead pack for most of the race. I crash by Phil, opened the door for Doug to put an effort in and not look back down the descent. Rounding out the top five was Ben Parsons and Frank Gonzalez. Frank had an earlier mechanical??, that took him out early. Ben showed that he's learning the cross game quickly and hammered to 4th place. The course was relatively straight and fast besides at nasty climb, and run up on the backside. I was somewhere towards the tail end of the group, but I felt the best I have all year. I dueled with Brad Morgan for a couple laps, but he was too strong in the end. It was nice to have good spectators. Doug is really coming into form. Phil seems to have recovered from his mid-season slump. I expect to see Frank back up there tomorrow.

In the men's B Chris Connelly took home this win. Despite crashing 4 times, Chris hung on for the win. In second, making his cross debut was Ben Raffato. Ben was impressive in 2nd place hanging with lead pack. I don't know how took 3rd. It might have been Erik Digby, but I think he got 4th.

The men's masters was dominated by Steve Mueller from the Flathead. He pulled away from the men's B and masters to take a nice victory. 2nd was John W., and third was John Fiore.

The women's race was won by Missoullian Heidi Gaskill. Heidi pulled away from Michelle Richardson and never looked back.

Friday, October 26, 2007

So far Dave is winning our poll. I think he's a good pick. This past Wednesday Dave was flying Don't underestimate Clint. We saw what happened at Rolling Thunder. John Curry will not be racing. Doug is also getting alot of votes. Look forward to the races this weekend. Hope to see everyone out there.

Cross in Missoula wrapped up last night. Well, atleast until the State Championships. There were a couple battles to be fought for the series titles. Dave, Toby, and Doug were all still in the hunt for the series victory.

The men's A started of in usual fashion. Dave, Phil, Doug, and Toby powered away from the rest. Trailing was Brink and myself, followed by Bill, Elliot, Bob, Erik, Mike and John Fiore. Eventually, Phil got a flat and Toby was dropped from the lead group. Doug and Dave powered on. Doug said Dave was on his A game, and was putting him into serious difficulty. They came into the finishing stretch with Doug using his blocking tactics to take the victory. Doug won 3 of the races, and Phil won the other 2. Toby rode good for 3rd. Dave took the series with his second place, with Toby and Doug tying for 2nd. As usual, on lap 2 Bill powered past me and then Brink to hold on for 4th place, and 4th place in the series. 5th and 6th was between myself and Brink. I got close but not close enough. He put a good surge on the last lap and buried me for good. The course suited my strengths with lots of turns, and technical ups and downs. I felt good about my race and look forward to this weekend at the Flathead. John Fiore had a nice race for 7th. The course suited his strengths as well. He was followed by Bob, Erik, and then Mike. We had a great series this year. I'm excited for the Cross-Halloween next week.

The women's series title was sewn up by Heidi Gaskill. She was undefeated in the series. It was an impressive cross debut. Also, props to Heidi for making dinner after the race. Kudos to Sophia Kircos for finishing second in the series and Anna Clark for finishing third.

The men's B series went to Kyle Shannon. It was a well deserved victory. He was consistent all year, and seems to have gotten stronger in the second half of the season. Bookwalter gave him a run but couldn't get close enough. In yesterday's race Dylan Johnson, a local mountainbiker took the victory on his Trek Fuel. He was flying up and down every technical section. He rode almost the entire course. What an animal! He was followed by Bookwalter, Murphy, and Kyle.

The master's race was all but wrapped up by John Wehyrich. Tom Sullivan was giving him a late season run, but was unable to attend the last race. John easily won the series and last nights race. Tom Sullivan finished second in the series. Props to Tim B. the series promoter for finishing 3rd in the series and 2nd yesterday. Thanks Tim!

Thanks to everyone who raced, I'll put photos up by the end of the day.

Wednesday, October 24, 2007

The temperature's were cold for stop number 5 of the Montana Cross series. The men's A had 10 or so starters, but with Clint, John C., and Frank you knew it was going to be a competitive race. After getting the whole shot John Curry powered away from Frank and Clint to take an impressive victory. It was quite the performance. John really proved that 5th place at the Thunder was not the result he was hoping for. With a showing like that I wouldn't be suprised to see John take the rest of the Montana races. It was a fight for second between Frank Gonzalez and Bill Martin. Bill got the best of the duel, benefitting from a chain slip by Frank. After the top 3 Ben Parsons, Alex Lussier, and Thomas powered in. Both Ben and Alex had consistent performances all weekend. Looking forward to next weekend in the Flathead it should be quite the duel again between Doug, Clint, John C., Frank, and Phil.

In the men's B Howard Williams took a great victory over teammates Kyle Shannon and Erik Digby. These fellas stayed together most of the race. With Erik coming in too hot on the last corner and Howard taking advantage.

The women's race was won by Lisa Curry. Who complete her Missoula cross sweep. She is flying!

Sunday, October 21, 2007

We had an excellent evening of racing on Saturday night. It was a great atmosphere. The racing was exciting and entertaining. The first race was the men's B. I knew this was going to be a competitive race. It lived up to it's billing. My pick for the win Bob Presta ended up in 2nd place. He was overtaken by a flying Chris Connelly. Connelly, used superior technical skills to distance himself from the rest. Holding on for third was Erik Digby. He benefited from a great start, and showed determination holding onto that third spot. 4th was Kyle Shannon who had a nice solid race. Murphy Woodhouse battled with Matt Shryock for 5th, with Murphy winning the battle for the last podium position. There were some Spokane riders in the men's B. It was nice to see some other guys out there.

Next up was the masters and womens race. Chance Cook out of the Flathead took a huge lead and never let up. I'd never heard of him until Rolling Thunder, but I guess he's a strong rider. He looked impressive all race long. Holding true to form John W. was 2nd, followed by John Fiore, Scott Smith, and Tom Sullivan. Tom traded bikes halfway through the race and powered through most of the field to take the last podium spot.

In the women's race the battle I had anticipated never played out. Lisa Curry took the hole shot and never looked back. It was probably the most impressive performance of the night. She dominated the field, and made the technical sections look easy. In second, was crowd favorite Heidi Gaskill. Heidi had a solid race, and wore a sweet outfit. After Heidi was Michelle R, Allison??, and Megan Gaskill.

In the men's A we saw all sorts of suprises. Clint Muhlfield was in control all night long. Even with a couple mechanicals, when Clint was on his bike he looked like he was in charge. Doug gave him a challenge, but it just wasn't meant to be. The closest he got was when Clint switched bikes and Doug passed him before the pit of dispair. Doug held the lead for a couple laps, until Clint not panicking slowly grabbed his wheel. He sat on him awhile and some road tactics came into play. Clint waited until the right moment and gapped Doug for good. The barriers action between these two was amazing. Neither of them lost speed through the barrier section. In an impressive third place was Frank Gonzalez. At one point Frank came painfully close to catching the two leaders. He looked strong from start to finish. In a suprising appearance Jamul Hahn took fourth. He flew through the course, and didn't really had to defend his position. John Curry rounded out the top 5. It's a case of what might have been for John. He had a dropped chain on the first couple laps, and fell out of the top ten. He battled all race long, passing people and making headway to finally finish 5th. The battle for 6th was fun to watch. Toby ended up in 6th with a nice move on Ben Parsons in the final barrier section, but between Dave, Ben, Toby, and Alex L. the battle was heated. I was super impressed with Ben Parsons and Alex. I thought they both rode a strong race and maintained very well. You can't be to impressed with Ben considering he went from at cat 5 on the road to a cat 2 in one season. Also, Dave I thought had a nice race. At the start he took the hole shot, then faded, but didn't fade to far back and battled to stay in the top ten. Elliot had a great race riding to 12th place, and never letting up.

Overall, I thought everyone at the race had a good time and that's whats important. I will be posting links to photos as soon as I get them.